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About micaelis

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  • Location
    Lincoln, Nebraska
  • Interests
    classical music, art, literature
  • Occupation
    retired after a life spent as record store clerk, university instructor, supermarket employee and bed and breakfast employee

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  1. This is possibly the best summation I've read here of where Yuzu's greatness lies. He's the one who has produced several 'rivalries' along his multi-yeared journey to the GOAT. One question remains, though, and that is what lies behind that gritty determination to constantly push himself. I think it's the earthquake. He was literally staring death in the face as he fled, sometimes on hands and knees he has related, that heaving, cracking ice surface, finally gaining the safety of the out of doors. Then he knew that while he was successful in gaining safety, thousands others would not be successful, most particularly when the tsunamis carried their deadly tides inland. It is a matter of record that he almost gave up skating, feeling remorse because of his misperception of what constitutes aiding in the recovery. But once he made his decision to continue skating, I think he felt it necessary to do everything he could to justify his decision. If anything, while he probably hasn't conceptualized it, he felt that only by becoming the greatest skater ever could he be worthy of his decision to keep skating. In a certain sense I think deep down he feels that every time he's on the ice competing he is creating a memorial to those who didn't make it, not only in Sendai, but all up and down the Japanese coast.
  2. For those who have the money and the time I would nonetheless advise against any attempts to obtain tickets for next season. The reason - There is still a good chance that next season may be cancelled. The reason - The virus is still very present come midsummer. Another reason - Even despite the season going forward a lot of high-profile skaters are sitting it out. One skater I know who might sit it out is our own Yuzuru Hanyu who, because of his asthma, sees himself as vulnerable to the virus. With his mischances over recent seasons because of injury, and one because of the flu, he sees no great advantage in soldiering forward. The show will go on but he will not be in it. He might even use the occasion to announce his retirement. He certainly doesn't need the money (he has plenty of that), nor the prestige (his legacy, which includes back-to-back Olympic golds, 4 consecutive GPF golds and two world championships, is already monumental) nor the experience (ten years of active senior competition is more than enough). In any case I really think there's a legitimate chance that next season will be cancelled. I even think there's a chance, because of the logistics involved, that this year's Olympics, right now postponed, might also be canceled. That was the case during both of the World Wars.
  3. Here's the bad news I think most of us were expecting. The Olympics are off for this year. No specific time has been stated as to when they might occur. Nor is it certain if they are undertaken that it be in Tokyo. One person remarked that if Japan didn't feel up to making due with a rescheduled Olympics that Los Angeles might be the place although it's scheduled to host the 2028 games. Right now there are far more questions than answer. I think we can also assume that basically competitive sports across the board are going to be casualties this year.
  4. I don't think Yuzu would have been the choice to light the cauldron. My own guess is that Kohei Ichimura, if he is not competing, as a gymnast reckoned by many as gymnastics' GOAT, would be the one to perform that task. I do think, however, Yuzu, Japan's most widely known Olympic athlete, would have had a high visibility role, perhaps the one who would hand the torch to Kohei. The situation now is largely moot since the story arising today is that there is very serious consideration being given to postponing the Olympics to next year. Most medical experts are saying that the world will not be getting back to normal any time soon and I would caution all of you that there is a good chance next skating season will be cancelled (along with virtually every other sporting event). Right now I think all of us should give thanks to having the internet. It is for me a lifeline (even before this whole pandemic crisis) and I have a feeling for most of you it is a means of not dying of boredom and not feeling so isolated.
  5. I wouldn't panic over Yuzu's enforced inactivity. For him it's a 'been there, done that' situation. What he did when he was injured and unable to step foot on the ice, in terms particularly, of his visualizations, he can do again. He can even go so far as to choose the music for his next programs, edit them (he's been doing that for quite some time) and then lay out the programs he wants to do with the music. Everything can be done at home and by doing so when the time comes that TCC reopens he can go and hit the ice skating. I'm certain he's already doing things at home to maintain and strengthen his physical fitness. In terms of his experience with enforced inactivity in certain recent seasons and how he successfully proceeded once he was able to get back on the ice should let us know that he is probably better equipped to deal with the current situation than almost any other skater. Yuzu has shown he can use his time doing nothing by making sure that time is spent doing significant somethings.
  6. For those who are self-quarantining there might come a time when you need a rest from all the Yuzu vids (as if such a time might come but actually there comes a point where you just are not watching them with the amount of concentration that you usually have), in any case if you've never been to Japan you can do a lot of touring of the country on YouTube. Just punch in 'Japan Train Rides and you'll have scores to choose from. Also by car there are some also, particularly several of Tokyo by a fellow called J Utah. They are in 4K and show how truly awesome that city is. There are also a number of walking tours of various cities you can take. All in all you can get a good sense of Yuzu's homeland by trekking the Tube. Try it out.
  7. I think he will remain in Toronto. Being confined on a jetliner for an extended period of time would not be advisable. Such close quarters are precisely the sort of situation that provides maximum opportunities for the spread of the virus. It would be safer to remain in Toronto. At the rink everybody can keep distant from each other and at home he only has his mother to deal with and I have no doubt she is taking all precautions to keep herself from exposure. This is my opinion but I'm sure Yuzu is approaching the situation with full intentions to eliminate exposure. Remember, there have been some cases over the years where he's been moving about wearing a medical mask.. He knows how to take care of himself (except when his right ankle is concerned and I'm pretty sure he has learned how to handle the ankle problems nowadays). Trust his judgment.
  8. If they should do a remake of Lord of the Rings Yuzu would make a perfect Legolas.
  9. I don't want to cause a panic but the Los Angeles Times, amongst others, has put out a story saying that Quebec officials are seriously considering the possibility of postponing or even cancelling the World Figure Skating competition in Montreal later this month. They have not said when a final decision will be made as whether to hold it as scheduled, postpone it or cancel it. If it were a case of a local competition and there were not many cases of the COVID-19 in the province they might let it proceed but this is an international competition with people coming from all over the world, not just the skaters but also the fans. The virus has now shown itself in over 100 countries so all of us should be prepared to deal with the shock and disappointment of no Worlds this year. I hate to rain on everybody's parade but I imagine all of us have already admitted the possibility of a cancellation in our private thoughts. A decision will be made as quickly as possible and each potential cancellation or rescheduling of an event is being done on a case by case basis. It was noted that the world championships of women's hockey being held in Nova Scotia has been cancelled but I would caution everyone not to panic since the figure skating Worlds is a higher profile event so the pressures will be to go forward as planned (There's too much money involved). One complicating factor that just came to mind is that there are a lot of scheduled airline flights being cancelled so that just getting to Montreal might prove difficult if not impossible for many skaters and fans.
  10. I'm not sure how to embed the URL so I'll direct you to where I found it. What did I find? On the Tumblr blog Gogogogolev there is posted a fairly lengthy document from the ISU detailing its recommendations for those attending its sponsored events in dealing with COVID-19. If someone knows how to transfer the document to the Planet I'm sure all of us would be grateful. It does show that the ISU is well aware of the situation and is taking measures to deal with it. At least they're doing SOMETHING right, if only they could do the same with Yuzu.
  11. On the virus and its effects on Worlds I think they will proceed. Remember the audience at 4CC was almost universally masked. Finding a person in the stands without a mask was a very difficult task. 4CC set the precedent so I think we'll see masked hordes at Worlds. I realize that the masks really don't protect one against the virus but they do keep those with it from spreading it to others through their coughing and sneezing. So if everybody is masked the proceedings should go forward as planned. As far as Yuzu, I'm quite sure they've kept him wrapped up in every protection they can implement. One thing we should be thankful for is that Yuzu doesn't need to fly to get there. Montreal is within easy driving distance of Toronto (roughly six hours and no jet lag) so his travel to there can be as protected as possible.
  12. I couldn't agree more. The first step towards true wisdom is admitting one's insufficiencies and a willingness to ask others for help. Being Catholic there are times (very frequent times) when I need input that isn't the result simply from prayer but times I need help deciphering what has come to me through prayer. That's why I have a spiritual director who is able to shepherd me through problematic situations. For some it can be a psychiatrist, for others it can be a spiritual director, and for some lucky few others it can be a friend who is truly wise and truly willing to give of his/her wisdom to help one through a particular crisis. But like I began this post, the first step to wisdom is to know that one needs outside input and a willingness to seek it out.
  13. In the discussion of masculine styles in Yuzu's program, so many of his programs are quite masculine, but two particularly are so. PW, a program through which he set four records, is one in which he became a young buck strutting his stuff, and it comes off as entirely genuine. Similarly, LGC displays very much the same attitude. Other ones I can think of offhand are RJ1 and POTW (that one is my favorite of all his programs). In any case I think one of the British Eurosport commentators put it quite concisely when talking about how varied the programs Yuzu uses when he said Yuzu could skate to almost any kind of music, particularly when he was comparing PW to Chopin. The thing is that Yuzu is open to almost any kind of music and his creative imagination is activated when he hears a piece of music that grabs him. I wonder how much he is choreographing in his mind when listening to music which would explain how he seems to be in a world of his own when we see him listening so intently. He's not just listening in his mind, he's skating in his mind.
  14. Continued off-topic but only to correct and clarify some things in the video. The earthquake actually lasted for nearly six minutes, which gives some idea of its potency. Generally the longer a quake lasts the more powerful it is. That's because there are more adjustments being made along the fault involved. That is just a rule of thumb with exceptions to be expected. The Kobe quake of January 1995 lasted a mere twenty seconds but because it was shallow and almost directly under Kobe it did much more damage than might be expected with a quake of only 7.0 magnitude. The video showing the shaking in the restaurant at the airport should give everybody here some sense of what Yuzu was experiencing at the very same time at his ice rink. The difficulty people had in standing up should also give everyone some idea that there might have been times he was on hands and knees attempting to exit the building. Also, while tsunamis travel at near jet-liner speeds in the open ocean they slow down as they near a coast because of friction with the ocean bottom and that is where the height of the wave begins building as parts further back in the wave meet resistance with the lead part of the wave. Furthermore the height of the wave as it moves inland is very much a product of the coastal arrangement where the wave is incoming. A long shallow coast, such as the Sendai plain where the airport is witnesses a fairly shallow tsunami. The tsunami there was only a few meters in height but because of the low and flat nature of the land right there the wave was enabled to move as much as five miles inland. There were a couple of places along the coast where the ocean bottom was much steeper and where the wave was entering an area where there were steep mountains on both sides and there was a narrowing of the distance from one side of the valley to the other, thus the wave piled up rapidly to where in one instance it reached a height of 140 feet. To conclude I want to say that I was very much concerned that world championships next year not be in early March. They aren't. The reason is that the eleventh of March next year will be the tenth anniversary of the quake and I'm sure that Yuzu, who is so much identified with the recovery efforts, might be wanted to participate in events commemorating the event. In Sendai alone there were over one thousand dead with the actual total in Japan being over nineteen thousand. My guess is that the major event will be in Sendai which was the largest city involved and also the large city closest to the epicenter. My one concern is that I hope that remembering everything that happened on that fateful day will not interfere with Yuzu's focus in preparing for the world championships in late March. On the other hand he might be inspired by the memories to dedicate his skating to the memory of all those who died. If that is the case we might witness Yuzu's greatest skate ever.
  15. This is a principle that should be followed in many other fields. For instance, the University of Chicago has a rule that all fully-tenured faculty must teach at least one basic course in their field in an academic year. Thus there was Enrico Fermi (winner of a Nobel prize in physics) teaching Physics 101, Milton Friedman (winner of a Nobel in economics) teaching Economics 101, and Saul Bellow (a Nobel in literature) teaching English 101. The reason for the rule is to keep members of the faculty from developing a tunnel vision that blocks out all activity outside their field. Where I went for graduate studies did not have that principle so it was left to the junior staff (non-tenure tracked) to handle the freshman courses. It showed in the attitudes so many of the senior staff had toward those students who weren't English majors. As such, I have to agree that TCC's approach is to be commended, as also their approach to world-class skaters where a new skater is frequently started at relearning basic skills, such as was the case with Yuzu, before the work begins on the more complex matters. In the case of Jason, he had those skills pretty well under control when he came to TCC so I have a feeling that they trained him with the basics just enough to polish them and then went on to the jumps, where he was fairly deficient. He's doing more jumping now than previously but they are integrated into his programs so as not to detract from the PCS elements. The approach is bearing fruit. Jason has moved up from the ranks to being a podium contender. I haven't looked at how this season compares with his previous seasons but I have a strong feeling that he's having his best season ever. I really wonder how Boyang might be doing had he made the move to TCC a couple years ago when it was a possibility. We'll never know.
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